Yorkshire Insurance Co, later South Australian Insurance, 20-26 Queen Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Yorkshire Insurance Co, later South Australian Insurance, 20-26 Queen Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108115
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
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Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1922-1923;ASSOCIATIONS: Yorkshire Insurance Co. Ltd;DESIGNER: Tompkins, HW & FB;BUILDER: Shlllabeer, F. E.Period: Inter-War.GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The former Yorkshire Insurance Company Building was constructed in 1922-1923 as a ten storey office development at an estimated cost of £56,4002. It was designed by the noted local architectural firm of HW & FB Tompkins for the Yorkshire Insurance Company who had occupied an earlier building on the same site by 1912.Insurance in VictoriaAt the beginning of insurance cover in the Colony most life assurance business in Victoria was provided by British based companies and the Sydney based Australian Mutual Provident Society. In 1869, the first major Victorian mutual life company, the National Mutual Life was formed, as the first in the world to introduce a full non-forfeiture condition for its life policies. As business prospered and more insurance companies opened Melbourne offices they found the longer life expectancy in Australia gave the Australian companies a competitive advantage over their British counterparts who based their premiums on British life tables and British life spans. By the financial crash of the early 1890s, fifteen companies carried out life assurance business in Victoria, six of them with head offices in Melbourne. Inquiries in Australia and North America into the conduct of life insurance companies, led to American companies active in Victoria forgoing new business or drastically reducing their turnover and their eventual absorption by Australian companies between 1922 and 1928. This and the rapid increase in policies written, created a minor boom in the industry that was only tempered by the Great Depression.Yorkshire Insurance CompanyA milestone in the history of the Yorkshire Insurance Company in Melbourne was in 1903 when the Company, (later part of General Accident Insurance), upgraded its Melbourne and Sydney agencies to branches while other companies began to undertake the burgeoning workmen’s compensation business in Australia. By 1907 Yorkshire also has Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney branches, after having introduced livestock and hailstorm insurance to the Australian market. In 1923 The company opened its first purpose-built office in Australia in Queen Street, Melbourne (this site), followed by the construction of the Perth, Adelaide and Sydney offices. The company's general manager James Hamilton, reported of the new head office in 1929 as `...[Melbourne] well conducted and profitable and the staff and subs good men. Pearce the second in command a good second (to George Anderson, then Australian general accident insurance manager) whilst the marine man – Warden – is said to be the best marine underwriter in Melbourne and I was struck with his ability and loyalty…'. The construction of the building is indicative of the growth of financial institutions in Melbourne in the inter-war period, then the financial capital of Australia.After a takeover by General Accident in the late 1960s, the Yorkshire Life Assurance Company of Australia Ltd, was still centred in Yorkshire House under General Manager G R Kensit with branches in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.HW & FB TompkinsHW & FB Tompkins rose to local prominence with their first design for the club and offices of the Commercial Travellers Association in Flinders Street (1898). The building in red brick with Queen Anne details and a Romanesque entrance arch set the tone for a number of projects by the firm in the early years of the century. In later projects, the Tompkins drew more explicitly upon America Romanesque sources, employing the style for the design or redevelopment of number of premises in Flinders Lane, including, work for Harvey Metcalf warehouse (1901-2), the Ball & Welch warehouse (1906) and Borsdorf & Co's Oriental Building (now Thomasetti House) of 1907. In the same year, they completed the first stage of the Dimelow & Gaylard (Dimmey's) building in Swan Street, Richmond. In 1910, Harry Tompkins travelled to Europe and the United States. On his return, he began to work in the Edwardian Baroque mode that had supplanted Romanesque Revivalism overseas. The Tompkins won the competition for the Centreway Arcade in Collins Street with an early us of steel framing in the design. This building and others such as the (first) Myer Building (designed after Harry Tompkins and Sydney Myer travelled to the United States together in 1912-3), the New Commercial Travellers Association Building in Flinders Street (1913) and the Robert Denyer Building in Swanston Street (1914), reflect the first and richest fruits of the Tompkins' conversion to the Baroque manner.The Tompkins continued to work in the Edwardian Baroque mode after WWI but moved towards a related Classical Revival mode through the 1920s. The Yorkshire Insurance Company Building (1922) is an example of the firm's work in this style. The firm is perhaps the most prominent among Capital City Zone designers in the 20th century.Yorkshire HouseThe building adopts an elegant palazzo form characterised by the tripartite division of the façade into base, intermediate floors and attic level. The heavy, rusticated base is finished in granite and distinguished by bold consoles to sculptural awnings above the principal windows. The intermediate floors are understated with ornamentation limited to rustication and decorative sills. The composition is completed by a prominent classical cornice. The firm's many commissions from this period include the Herald and Weekly Times Building (1921) and the London Stores building on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets (1921), both of which are executed in a similar style to the Yorkshire Insurance Company Building. During the mid to Late 1930s, along with many other designers, the Tompkins discarded the historical styles in favour of a more Moderne form of expression.Window joinery throughout the building has been altered and an unsympathetic awning constructed at ground level but the building is otherwise in good and near original condition.How is it significant?Yorkshire House is significant is significant historically and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City Zone.Why is it significant?Yorkshire House is of aesthetic significance a good example of an understated commercial Palazzo style by the distinguished and prolific architectural firm of HW & FB Tompkins.Historically the construction of the building is indicative of the growth of financial institutions including life insurance companies in Melbourne during the Edwardian and inter-war periods, Melbourne then being the financial capital of Australia..RAWORTH, B 2002. REVIEW OF HERITAGE OVERLAY LISTINGS IN THE CBDfor the City of MelbourneHistory and DescriptionThe former Yorkshire Insurance Company Building was constructed in 19221 as a ten storey office development at a cost of £56,4002 3. It was designed by the noted local firm of HW & FB Tompkins for the Yorkshire Insurance Co. 4 who had occupied an earlier building on the same site from 1912 5. The builder is not known.HW & FB Tompkins rose to local prominence with their design for the club and offices of the Commercial Travellers Association in Flinders Street (1898). The building in red brick with Queen Anne details and a Romanesque entrance arch set the tone for a number of projects by the firm in the early years of the century. In later projects, the Tompkins drew more explicitly upon America Romanesque sources, employing the style for the design or redevelopment of number of premises in Flinders Lane, including, work for Harvey Metcalf warehouse (1901-2), the Ball &Welsh warehouse (1906) and Borsdorf & Co's Oriental Building (now Thomasetti House) of 1907. In the same year, they completed the first stage of the Dimelow & Gaylard (Dimmey's) building in Swan Street, Richmond. In 1910, Harry Tompkins travelled to Europe and the United States. On his return, he began to work in the Edwardian Baroque mode that had supplanted Romanesque Revivalism overseas. The Tompkins won the competition for the Centreway Arcade in Collins Street with Melbourne's first steel-framed building design. This building and others such as the (first) Myer Building (designed after Harry Tompkins and Sydney Myer travelled to the United States together in 1912-3), the New Commercial Travellers Association Building in Flinders Street (1913) and the Robert Denyer Building in Swanston Street (1914), reflect the first and richest fruits of the Tompkins' conversion to the Baroque manner.The Tompkins continued to work in the Edwardian Baroque mode after WWI but moved towards a related Classical Revival mode through the 1920s. The Yorkshire Insurance Company Building (1922) is an example of the firm's work in this style.The building adopts an elegant palazzo form characterised by the vertical tripartite division of the façade into base, neutral intermediate floors and cornice. The heavy, rusticated base is finished in granite and distinguished by bold consoles to sculptural awnings above the principal windows. The intermediate floors are understated with ornamentation limited to rustication and decorative sills. The composition is completed by a prominent classical cornice. The firm's many commissions from this period include the Herald and Weekly Times Building (1921) and the London Stores building on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets (1921), both of which are executed in a similar style to the Yorkshire Insurance Company Building. During the mid to Late 1930s the Tompkins deserted the historical styles in favour of a more Moderne form of expression.Window joinery throughout the building has been altered and unsympathetic awnings have been constructed at ground level but the building is otherwise in good original condition.Statement of SignificanceThe former Yorkshire Insurance Company is of aesthetic and historical significance at a local level as a good example of an understated classical design by the distinguished local architectural firm of HW & FB Tompkins.Footnotes:1 Building, Dec 1923, pp 132-33; MCC Building permit application 4432, September 1922.2. Ibid.3 Butler, CAD Conservation Study, 1985, Former Yorkshire Insurance Building.4 MCC Building Permit 4432, 16/9/22.5 Sands and MacDougall Directory of Victoria, 1912..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM `Building' 12/1923:132-3;_________________________________________City of Melbourne i-Heritage:Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984 Building Identification Form (BIF): : Alterations / Recommendations: Air unit added (inappropriate - remove or reinstate sympathetic alternative). (adjoining Alkira House, Historic Buildings Register )_________________________________________CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONSBuilding Permit Application 1922, 4432_________________________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER8 Tompkins designs on the Victorian Heritage Register.includes: The Commercial Travellers Association Building was designed 1912; Herald and Weekly Times Building was constructed in stages between 1921 and 1928; JH Hooper & Company, Sydney Road Brunswick 1908; The Canterbury, St Kilda west, built in 1914, is one of Victoria's earliest surviving examples of flats; Kew War Memorial; The Myer Emporium department store; Dimmeys built in stages between 1907 and 1918._________________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1922The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)Wednesday 20 September 1922 - Page 12https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243774213 illustREAL PROPERTYNEW BUSINESS BLOCK FOR QUEEN STOperations have begun with the demolition of existing premises in Queen street, to make way for the erection of an imposing business block of ten floors, including a semi-basement, for the Yorkshire Insurance Company.In 1918 the company bought the property occupied for many years by Crespin and Co. on the east side of Queen street, near Flinders street. A contract has been let to Mr F. E. Shlllabeer for the erection of a structure which will have a frontage of 58ft. to both Queen and Bond streets, with a height of 125ft. above the street level. The accompanying illustration shows the effective design for the new block, which has been prepared by the well- known Melbourne architects, H. W. and F. B. Tompkins, 70 Elizabeth street, who have planned business promises on the most up-to-date lines. Reinforced concrete will be the material chiefly used in the now building, and there will be steel stanchions and girders to the four lower floors. The inferior nature of the soli has rendered the use of a system of cantilever foundation necessary. Up to the first floor the frontage will consist of polished Harcourt granite, which will have a pleasing decorative effect. Throughout the building the floors will be constructed of sound-proof, hollow concrete blocks, with reinforced concrete secondary girders. All the floors will have smooth surfaces, covered with heavy section cork carpet, cemented down. Wherever possible the use of inflammable material has been avoided. Only the doors to internal offices will be of wood— polished maple.All the rest of the woodwork is to be metal cased and the window frames will be of stock Two electric elevators will be Installed, enclosed in concrete as a protection against fire, and the labor-saving devices to be introduced including devices to be introduced Include a letter chute, dust chute", etc The American system of rentals, to cover tho cost of lighting, heating and cleaning, will be observed..The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860-1954) Tuesday 12 July 1938: YI profit of near ₤4,500,000, head office in York_________________________________________`Victorian Year Book' (VYB) 1973: 344`At the same time industrial assurance was increasing rapidly, and by 1911the number of policies was 147,044 and the sum assured $6m. Theboom of the 1920s led to a great increase in the amount of new business ofboth types written in Victoria. The number of ordinary life assurance policiesin force in 1920 was 238,414 and the sum assured was $107m, but in 1929policies numbered 288,847 and the sum assured was $174m. During thesame period industrial life assurance policies also increased from 286,106to 552,943 and the sum assured rose from $16m to $47m'278 …in terms of profits in 1970-71, out of the ten largest listed companies incorporated in Australia, seven were based in Melbourne. The flow of funds for investment in other States andthe income received in return clearly play an important role in Victoria's external economic relationships._________________________________________AVIVA archive:The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the Yorkshire Insurance Company between 1824 and 1997`Yorkshire Insurance Company LtdThe Yorkshire Insurance Company was established in 1824 as the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Company. A deed of settlement was signed on July 21 1825 and was replaced by an act of parliament in July 1831. On May 27 1908, the company changed its name to the Yorkshire Insurance Company and was registered as a limited company on June 3 1908.`Company HistoryThe first meeting of the company founders took place in York Tavern in St Helen's Square, York, and set out the company objectives :'to effect insurance against loss by fire and on lives and survivorships and the sale and purchase of annuities and Reversions and the endowment of Children.'The company opened for business on September 1 1824 and, in 1826, adopted York minister as its official emblem.During the early half of the 19th century there were no organised local fire brigades and the Yorkshire, like other insurance companies, maintained its own fire engine and brigade in York. The company purchased its first engine in November 1824 and the 'Yorkshire' brigade tackled fires for over 50 years - including those at York Minster in 1829 and 1840 - until the city corporation assumed responsibility for all fire fighting in 1876.Around the turn of the century, the company began a period of considerable expansion. In 1898, it started to offer accident insurance while a burglary business was added in 1901. The company extended its business to include fidelity guarantee insurance in 1904 followed by plate glass and livestock insurance in 1907. By 1938, the company was offering fire, life, annuity, sickness, accident, employers' liability, burglary, fidelity guarantee, motor, plate glass, third party, boiler and engineering, live stock and marine insurances.In 1967, the majority of the company's share capital was acquired by the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd, which acquired the remaining share capital the following year. By 1974, the Yorkshire had ceased operating in the United Kingdom but was still active in Brazil, Iran and France. In 1991, its principal business was United States business written in the United Kingdom and general insurance through overseas agencies. The company was registered as non-trading on March 31 2006'..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1920 lists 22 and 24-6 (Yorkshire Insurance) separately1924 Yorkshire House lists many tenants incl Yorkshire Insurance Co.1930, D1935, Yorkshire House lists many tenants1939 Yorkshire House, lists many tenants including the Yorkshire Insurance Co. EW Scott Australian manager, HL Purse Victorian manager; IG Anderson, architect;
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108115 | 1 JPEG : 533 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |